Ready to Go

A relaxing weekend continued today with a long walk around DC with my old (but younger than me) friend over at Words to Live By. 

With bright blue skies and plenty of sunshine warming our backs we traversed around DC. I was happy to start with a visit to the Albert Einstein Memorial. From there we hit a view of the usual sights- the Lincoln Memorial, Hains Point, the Jefferson Memorial, and the Martin Luther King memorial.r

And then, because we walked so far- we rewarded ourselves with a beer overlooking the putting green at East Potomac Park.

I've lived in the DC area for about 35 years now and I never tire of seeing the same old sights that so many travel miles and miles to see. 

So, yes, day two of the weekend was pretty much responsibility-free. I'm rested and ready for whatever the week has to offer...I hope.

The Way It Is

I do love a productive Saturday. This morning I was up at 7:00 and quickly lined up piles of laundry in the hallway. While the sheets went through washing, rinsing, and spinning I settled into a hot cup of coffee and the morning news program.

Once the second load went in I started on a grocery list- checking out the empty refrigerator and typing in needed items on my phone. Down at the Giant, I quickly filled up my cart mentally planning the meals for the week.

By midafternoon, all four loads of laundry had made it into the washer and I had nothing but fun things left on my to-do list. 

Sunday should be relaxing and free of adult-like responsibilities. A weekend finishing off just the way I like it.

Choosing

Tonight I enjoyed a belated Mardi Gras celebration with an old friend. Yes, Mardi Gras was officially a little over two weeks ago- unfortunately, that date coincided with my friend's chemo treatment so we decided we'd put that King Cake in the freezer and get to it at a better time.

Tonight was the perfect time! For myself, it was the first week back in the classroom. Even though I had no students with me as of yet just the added tasks of commuting, packing lunch, and figuring out how to get my work area set up was so much more exhausting than I could imagine. I mean, I have been working since August- so why was this so taxing?

Already, I've noticed that my daily walks have disappeared. Even though I managed to get a short walk in during my lunchtime this week, that short stroll is nothing close to the two or three miles I was getting in while working from home.

So, perhaps a dinner of pancakes and bacon followed by a sweet, praline King Cake wasn't the best way to wrap up a busy week. Yes, a forced walk would have been better but I'll take friendship over exercise anytime.

Kharma

I recently told my sister that those in their 80s are most likely to die of nothing more than doing something stupid.

Maybe I should stop saying that. Don't worry--my 80 something parents are fine...well as fine as 80-something people can be.

Today I was the stupid one. In what can only be defined as a moment of lapsed brain power I managed to slam my own car door into my forehead. In the aftermath, I was left with blood running down my face and a confused feeling of something like, "what the?" I honestly don't know what happened but when I ran back into the doctor's office to ask for a band-aid I told them the glare of the sun did it. How that would happen I'm not sure but with blood all over my forehead, they didn't ask too many questions.

This evening I am left with an inch-long scar right on my forehead. No, it's not in the shape of a lightning bolt. It's just red and ugly. 

If it had a name it would be called Kharma.

A Quick Break

The first daffodils popped up unexpectedly a few days ago. That was a few days after I noted the purple crocuses sprouting from the ground on my usual walk.

On my lunch break today I took a quick 20-minute walk to soak up all that is the impending spring. Heading out the front door of my school I took a second to breathe in the bright blue sky as I turned the corner for the walking path. I took note of the tidy school garden ready for planting before digging in my heels to climb the hill to the top of the path.

There were a few other walkers out enjoying the day. A young guy with his dog stood to the side as a runner and a speed walker passed by. A father watched, with a small backpack in hand, as his daughter proclaimed herself "queen of the tree" and fought to defend herself from circling alligators. I didn't see the alligators but I'll take the word of the queen on that one.

No worries...I made it back to work safely.

Day 1.1

 The large window in my classroom has a great view of the elementary school that was built just a few years ago in the space that was formerly taken up by a parking lot...for staff at my school. (But that's another story) The resentment I felt has, for the most part, subsided and now I try to concentrate on the new views I can see each day from my workspace.

This morning I was able to watch as the first families dropped off their young Kindergarteners and 1st and 2nd graders for their first day of learning in the school building. 

I have fond memories of those first days from my time teaching elementary school. My 5th-grade classroom window offered a great view of the front of the school where I could watch parents offer final words of reassurance as their 1st-time students walked toward the school's entrance.

Today I watched as parents and youngsters walked toward the towering building. Parents with arms wrapped around their kids and kids with eyes on the big building in front of them. No doubt, the emotions all were feeling ran the gamut from sadness to excitement. The kids have been home for a long time and for them a school year without a school building isn't quite right. Of course, parents have been looking for a break from the daily grind of learning from a distance and their day had finally come.

Even so, I wonder how long it was until parent and child thought about the other and how much they missed being together.

A Far Cry From 1986

Wandering through the produce aisle yesterday morning I was surprised to hear the Annie Lennox song, "Missionary Man," coming through the store's speaker system. It was 8:00 am on a Sunday and lyrics like,

"Well, I was born an original sinner. I was borne from original sin. And if I had a dollar bill for all the things I've done, there'd be a mountain of money piled up to my chin," seemed a tad out of place for a Sunday morning at the Shoprite.

I'm a big fan of Annie Lennox and was an immediate fan of the song when it came out in 1986. Those days you would have found me and a few friends doing the bar thing in the Fells Point section of Baltimore. A night of drinkin' the suds meant there would be laughter and of course dancing. 

We often started out the evening at a place called "The Horse You Came in On" and finished off the night sweating it out on the dance floor at "The Dead End." When a song like Missionary Man came on you could be sure the gang was out on the floor jumping around to the beat.

It was just that dancing mob that I pictured as I stopped to listen to Annie Lennox belt it out. I laughed. And then I picked up a second sweet potato and put it in my cart pushing on as I sang along.